At the time of writing this post I have just finished browser testing the new site (I wrote it a while back) and it went rather smoothly. The reason for this is because I now use the rule:

If I can’t see it, I don’t care

In the past I would spend hours over the smallest details when it came to browser testing, ensuring a site was identical to the original design. Of course this was a little crazy, so now I get a site built and working in Firefox and then browser test to remove an obvious or critical functionality or positioning problems. The reason for the careless approach is that many users will not notice the small differences or notice that anything is broken as they probably don’t compare sites in various browsers like Web Developers.

Continue Reading

Every now and again I see the discussion over the addition of ads on the website of a web professional. Some feel it devalues the website; others are just trying to make a little extra cash. Personally I think it’s all about context and how the ads are integrated into the website.

When designing the previous version of my website I added in some Google ads to see if I could get the website paying for itself. It also gave me some experience on how to integrate and customise the ads. It was all seen as a bit of a test and it failed miserably. In 1½ years Google registered 13,018 impressions, 8 clicks and an most excellent earnings of 39p.

Surely enough to retire on.

Continue Reading

My last post highlighted one of the aspects of working with clients that sends a web bod to despair. Of course in these cases it’s all about educating the client but sometimes a client will say or ask something that really is difficult to believe and puts them beyond all hope.

Clients from Hell is a website that allows anyone to post their horror client stories and some of the posts really are beyond belief. Anyone involved in website should go read this site as web professionals will get a good laugh and clients should hopefully learn from the mistakes of others. You could always post your own story; I’m waiting for something to come up to have a go at posting myself.

There is one thing I would always like to say to a client but never do because you have to be a bit more diplomatic:

You are not the only client we have!

This comes up in a few situations, as a client you should avoid them at all costs:

Continue Reading